With the federal health insurance exchange now operating more smoothly for most users, President Obama assembled 160 youth leaders at the White House on Wednesday, enlisting them to help sign up their peers for health insurance — a crucial factor in whether his signature law will succeed.

As the student body presidents and youth activists gathered for an afternoon of seminars with White House officials and leaders of allied groups, a new poll showed that the administration and its allies have their work cut out for them.

In brief remarks before the afternoon seminars on enrollment began, the president said: "Stuff that’s worth it is always hard. The civil rights movement was hard. Getting women the right to vote — that was hard. Making sure that workers had the right to organize — that was hard. Don’t get discouraged. Be persistent. You may get a few gray hairs as a consequence, but I think at the end of the day you’ll think it’s worth it."

"Remind your friends and your peers — imagine what happens if you get sick, what happens with the massive bills. The people who are running those ads, they're not going to pay for your illness," he said. "You're going to pay for it or your family is going to pay for it. And that's hard to imagine."

In parting, Obama asked his guests to use their email lists and radio shows to "help people learn the facts." And he asked them to strategize about innovative ways to get their friends signed up — "if you’re a bartender, have a happy hour," he said.

From the congressional halls to the Jersey shore, here's a look at the best photos surrounding the year's political discourse in 2013. Read more: Debate over the Affordable Care Act. Timeline: Politics in 2013.

If you support Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick’s bid for reelection, stay away from annkirkpatrick.com. The site might greet visitors with a welcoming photo of the Arizona congresswoman and a screaming “Kirkpatrick for Congress” logo, but that design belies its true agenda.

WASHINGTON -- Alarmed by the shooting attack on a Silicon Valley-area power station last spring, several senators called on regulators to review security operations at electrical utilities and consider imposing new rules to protect against future attacks.

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Keen to not let a rare legislative accomplishment go unnoticed, President Obama jetted to an agricultural research hub in Michigan on Friday to sign into law a long-delayed farm bill and tout the importance of rural America to the economy.

The Chicago Cubs on Tuesday sought City Hall permission to expand construction hours at Wrigley Field, with bleacher work falling well behind schedule on the team's $375 million ballpark renovation project.